Booking.com offers concessions in bid to end competition probes
BRUSSELS, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Online travel site booking.com, part of U.S. company Priceline Group Inc, has offered concessions in a bid to end investigations by competition authorities in France, Sweden and Italy, the European Commission said on Monday.
The Commission, the antitrust enforcer in the 28-country European Union, said it was coordinating the national probes and that it is not conducting its own investigation. Third parties have until Jan. 31 to provide feedback on the concessions.
"Booking.com has proposed to abandon the parity requirement in respect of prices which the hotel makes available to other online travel agents (OTAs)," the Commission said in a statement.
The parity clause forces hotels to offer the online site the same or better room prices that they grant to other online or offline booking agents. The national regulators are concerned that this may thwart rivals.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee)
